Final Goodbyes – Hug. Cry. Drive Off. Repeat.

Texas

We had known for months that the day we had to say our final goodbyes to my family was going to be tough. Because our plane was scheduled to take off at 7am the next morning we decided to get a hotel room close to the airport for the night before we were to leave. Afternoon tears are always easier to cope with than morning ones.

Since we were still recovering from the estate sale, things were in flux. My brother volunteered to take us to the airport and because of an afternoon meeting he arrived earlier than expected.

So we were rushed out the door with my parents hugging on both us and doing a lot of boo-hooing. Looking back, I saw them both waving on the front porch, and heard my dad shouting, “It’s not too late to change your minddddddd…” as we drove away.

When we arrived at the hotel I made John go first as we found our way to the room. I didn’t want him to see me struggle with Pinkie and Big Blue. He was past the “you’ll never keep up” warnings and now, probably because of sheer exhaustion, resorted to nasty glares as I lumbered down the hall with all my worldly possessions in tow.

As we settled down a bit in the room, John, being the astute engineer that he is, started to take inventory. He quickly realized that we had left a whole drawer full of necessaries in the bathroom at my parents’ house.

While John sat in the car, I made another haul through my parents’ house, redid the hugging and crying and this time didn’t look back.
Back at the hotel, we took inventory together this time to double check and see if we had everything we needed.